


Dysprosody

by literati42



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Found Family, Gen, Malcolm Bright Whump, Malcolm but with a British accent, Team Bonding, Team as Family, a light hearted Prodigal son fic!, cute and fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-23 00:00:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23002480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literati42/pseuds/literati42
Summary: Malcolm has a secret talent (it involves a fake British accent!) which causes quite a stir with the team, especially when something goes wrong, but then when doesn't something go wrong in the life of Malcolm Bright?
Comments: 7
Kudos: 119
Collections: Literati42 Commissions Trades Requests





	Dysprosody

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stlouisphile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stlouisphile/gifts).



> Back with a new addition to my commission/trade/request collection in this story for stlouisphile who requested a story about Malcolm Bright with Tom Payne's British accent. I hope you, and everyone enjoys!
> 
> Also, as always you can reach out to me on twitter @themythofpsyche or on tumblr @literati42  
> Also also! Please click here to learn more about my fandom projects (especially Prodigal Son stuff!) I think you will like: https://existentialwednesdays.wordpress.com/2020/02/06/want-to-know-more-about-me-as-a-fanfic-writer/

Dysprosody 

Malcolm held up the book, a leather bound with gold filigree. “A pick-up artist handbook.” 

Dani’s lip curled up in disgust. 

He nodded, “Exactly. The worst qualities of toxic masculinity on display in one place. It’s a hot bed of sociopathic tendencies. Truly predatory behavior. Men gathering together to weaponize their skill with attracting women.” 

“If anyone has that weapon locked and loaded it’s you,” Edrisa said, making finger guns, she then immediately shook her head. “No…” 

“So, what,” JT said, moving right past whatever that was, “This guy just throws on a fake British accent and uses mind tricks?” 

“It is a bit more complicated than that.” Malcolm said, “And really a fake British accent isn’t that hard.” 

“Right, bro,” JT said. 

Malcolm looked at him, that glint in his eye when he sensed a challenge. “What?” he said, and all the eyes shot to him as the voice coming from his mouth was decidedly British. 

Edrisa sputtered.

Dani stared.

Gil sighed deeply. They were going to go off course, and if past was the best predictor of future as Malcolm insisted, it was going to be a monster to wrangle his team back on track after this reveal.

“So…rich people just get issued a British accent when they get to a higher tax bracket?” JT asked.

Malcolm continued to smile. “I was taken out of school for a while after my father’s arrest,” he said, his voice back to normal, but for once the team seemed more occupied with this weird new revealed skill than with the hint of a darker story. “And I had a private tutor from England. I wasn’t really talking for a while.” He shrugged, “And well…when I started talking again…”

“You developed a British accent?” Edrisa asked, tense up in the way she did when anyone at the precinct showed a picture of a particularly cute cat. “As a child? A child Bright with a spontaneous British accent?” Gil wondered if he should worry that this would finally be the bit of information that was too much for their ME.

“Now,” Bright said, putting the accent back on, “I can slip in and out of it whenever I want.”

“Except when he gets drunk and sometimes, he can’t turn it off,” Gil added.

“Like alcohol induced dysprosody,” Edrisa said, her eyes lighting up at the idea.

“Do I even want to know?” JT asked.

“Dysprosody, it is a condition where a brain abnormality leads to someone sounding like they have an accent,” Bright said.

“Of course, in dysprosody,” Edrisa said, bouncing off his explanation, “The accent isn’t based on any real existing accents, it just would sound to others like they have an unfamiliar accent. And in this case…Bright has an…absolutely flawless British accent.”

Bright smiled, tipping his head slightly at the compliment.

“Can we get back to the case?” Dani surprised Gil by saying. She looked frustrated and the older detective could not at that moment place why. Usually she played along with the team’s banter, adding in her own dry commentary. Usually he was the one driving them back to the topic, but Dani was tapping her pen on the casefile aggressively.

_-_-_

“So, maybe the accent will ingratiate me to him,” Malcolm said, speaking in the accent already as he and Dani walked toward the headquarters of the pick-up artists.

“Just stop,” Dani said.

He frowned, but dropped it. “Are…is something wrong?”

Dani sighed.

“Just, it’s annoying.” She walked on, hands in her pockets, leaving Bright watching her in confusion. He glanced over at the ME who was walking beside them.

“I don’t know. I thought she liked British accents.”

“She likes them?” he asked, stopping to look at her.

“Yeah, like half her favorite actors are British,” Edrisa said. Malcolm picked up the pace to catch up with her.

“Dani, I get it. I’ll stop.”

“Didn’t we talk about you profiling me, Bright?”

“You like British accents,” he said, “And I’m ruining them for you.”

Dani stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at him. “You’re an idiot.” She turned on the heel of her boots and headed into the crime scene.

“I don’t…” Malcolm began to say.

It was a wave of sound, motion, force. He felt it hit before he heard it. Bright flew backwards, and everything went dark.

_-_-_

“Bright? Bright?” Edrisa’s desperate voice rang out. She sounded scared. He tried to fight his way to see her, but felt his eyes resisting him. Something was wrong with Edrisa and she needed him, she was calling for him. “Bright?” She sounded panicked.

“Bright? Hey, hey,” Dani’s voice now. She did not sound annoyed like she did before. She sounded scared too.

His eyes finally opened, but his vision took longer to focus. Both women were leaning over him, concern written across their faces.

“You alright, Bright?” Dani asked. He began to struggle to sit up—why was he lying down at a crime scene?—and she rushed to help him. “Slowly. Edrisa, call an ambulance.”

She gave a shaky nod.

“I’m fine,” Bright said, his voice coming out as a British accent. He shook his head. “What happened?” He frowned when he heard the accent come out of his mouth.

“Suspect set off a bomb, you were standing in the blast radius,” Edrisa said.

“Edrisa, ambulance!” Dani shouted. The woman nodded again, this time fumbling to get her phone out and calling.

“Oh,” Bright said, “Why do I sound so weird?” he asked, but his eyes fell shut again before he got the answer.

_-_-_

“So, you’re saying he’s…stuck like this?” Dani repeated, staring at the doctor. Gil stood beside her, looking between her, the doctor, and Malcolm who sat on the hospital bed. He had his arm in a sling and an impressive bruise that would soon be quite colorful on his face.

“Truly, I have never seen this happen,” the doctor said, “But all signs and scans point to a minor concussion.”

“So why is he still sounding…British?” JT asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I am going to say it is just the confusion from the concussion.”

“I don’t feel confused,” Malcolm said, his voice still decidedly accented.

“And yet…” Dani said.

The doctor raised her hand to interject. “We just need someone to stay with him to make sure he stays fine, but right now I see no reason he can’t go home. If by tomorrow the accent has not resolved, then we can do further tests. Until then...” She waved her hand lightly in Malcolm’s direction.

“You would have a weird ass reaction to a concussion,” JT said, shaking his head.

“Dani…” Gil began.

“Nope. He’s your problem this time,” she said, turning to walk out the door. Now that he was mostly fine, she was back to looking annoyed.

“What is going on with her?” Malcolm asked, shaking his head again when he still said it like he was form England. The shaking just caused colors to spin in front of his eyes.

“You’re the profiler,” JT replied, heading out after his partner.

“Gil?”

“I’m not touching that one,” Gil said, watching after Dani’s departing form before shaking his head. “Come on, kid, let’s take you home.” He helped the profiler up.

“Thank you,” Malcolm replied, then frowned at Gil. “What are you smiling at?”

“I just wish I’d had the chance to say, if you keep making that accent you’ll get stuck that way.”

“Ha ha,” Malcolm replied, dryly. Gil squeezed the back of his neck, laughing to himself as they left the hospital.


End file.
